Ireland face the Tri-Nations
champions in Auckland’s Eden Park after a win against the USA that did
nothing but raise more questions and doubts about the health of the
team.

After four losses in four August
warm-up games, Ireland could not break free of the hesitancy and panic
that have stalked them for weeks, and veteran fly-half O’Gara was
typically forthright in recognising that the players have been left with
a huge amount to prove in five days’ time.

‘We’re massive underdogs, we have a
lot to prove,’ he said. ‘I think we’re looking for performance first of
all and then the result will be further on.’

O’Gara’s duel with Jonathan Sexton
for the No 10 shirt is back on after the younger man endured a terrible
night with the boot, managing only two successful strikes from five
attempts. O’Gara did not seek excuses for the collective mishaps in the
conditions, however.

The Best a man can get: The hooker also scored a try for Ireland

‘Yeah, they were difficult, but I
looked up at the screen at one stage and I think we had eight to two
handling errors; that’s too many,’ he said.

On the Paul: Emerick (left) is congratulated after scoring a try for the United States

Game management remains a big problem
for Ireland, with players either taking the wrong option or rushing
the preferred option and failing to execute it.

Fan zone: Ireland supporters get in the spirit during the Group C clash

O’Gara added: ‘That’s the difference
between European and Test rugby: we were probably looking for a miracle
pass here and there. I said to Paul (O’Connell), you get flashes of
genius in international rugby in one of three games, (otherwise) you
just have to keep wearing teams down, keep holding on to the ball and
then putting over a fella with just simple hands.’